› added 2 years ago

65

TIL about the Varangian Guard. It was an elite military unit composed of Vikings and some Anglo-Saxons who were recruited to serve as the personal bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors. The Byzantines exclusively hired foreigners as they lacked any political allegiance.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

LJop TIL that George Orwell was a socialist who saw every line of prose he wrote to be in favour of democratic socialism
loebV TIL an African grey parrot named "Nigel," who spoke with a British accent, went missing from his California home. When he was returned 4 yrs later via his microchip to his British-American owner, Nigel was able to speak Spanish & sing bars from the theme of "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly."
69eKm TIL that Marvel Comics founder Martin Goodman and his wife had tickets on the Hindenburg when returning from their honeymoon in Europe in 1937, but were unable to secure seats together, so they took alternative transportation instead, avoiding the Hindenburg disaster
QN0nk TIL I learned that california has a bill called prop 47, that allows you to do some crimes, and it be a misdemeanor instead of a felony, as long it's not over $950, or below it (this was due to overcrowed prisons)
YpNAv TIL the human body has a lag between dehydration and thirst. This means that when you feel physically thirsty, you've already been dehydrated for a while.